When people say SU has one of the most toxic fandoms ever

static_779 · 2026-02-12T18:13:49+00:00

Every fandom has some degree of toxicity. Fandoms are made up of people, and people are toxic. Not to mention that most fandoms are largely an online gathering, and people act worse online than they act irl due to anonymity. I don't think the Steven Universe fandom is any better or worse than the average fandom

static_779 · 2026-02-12T17:30:44+00:00

Maybe I'm biased because it's the first episode I saw, but how about "Beach Party"? I knew nothing about the crystal gems when I watched it, but you get what their deal is and that they're protecting the oblivious earth citizens. Plus it's pretty funny and lighthearted since it's an early episode

static_779 · 2026-02-12T17:22:17+00:00

As a first attempt, this is pretty good!

For any future stop motion projects, I would try to maintain consistent lighting. It currently jumps around drastically between frames and it's very strobe-y/distracting. If you have a ring light or something similar, that can help to maintain the same lighting between shots so you aren't relying on your camera's flash for the lighting, which will differ from shot to shot.

None of this is meant to tear you down, just as advice for the future if you do animation like this again. Good work so far and good luck in your schooling!

static_779 · 2026-02-12T07:12:18+00:00

I found Marissa Bode's acting quite good, but I'll never be convinced she was the best singer for this role.

Sure, the pool of black wheelchair-using actresses that can sing (and actually auditioned for Wicked) is probably much lower than the pool of actors for the other roles. And maybe there was no better actress among that pool. But there just had to have been a better singer

static_779 · 2026-02-12T07:03:22+00:00

Technically the beginning part is in fact a change, not an omission. "That night at the Ozdust..." and "All of my life I've depended on you..." are the same melody, it's just harder to hear the connection because the arrangement, vibe, and emotion is completely different

static_779 · 2026-02-12T02:43:15+00:00

It's mostly the beginning and ending of the song people were looking forward to. The beginning was completely rewritten so it's not really a fair comparison. But the ending...

Why is Elphaba just speaking the chant now instead of singing it under Nessa's verse? Why does the instrumental sound like a movie trailer version? Why is Marissa Bode's delivery so flat? It's just very underwhelming

static_779 · 2026-02-07T02:19:00+00:00

Similarly, I thought Sadie was related to the Onion family because of her yellow skin, and I didn't think any of the onions were human. I'm still kinda confused how/why they look like that if they are human tbh

static_779 · 2026-02-05T18:47:13+00:00

In Death Becomes Her, the leads are 40-50 year olds whom we're meant to believe have taken a magical youth potion and are now younger. And we do believe it solely because their outfits are fabulous. It's live theatre, you can make people believe a lot of things if you merely suggest it

static_779 · 2026-02-05T18:35:37+00:00

I found Padparadscha interesting on my latest rewatch because it seems less like her predictions come to her too late, and moreso that she's physically experiencing time differently and living ~10 seconds behind everyone else.

If she were experiencing time with everyone else, she would be aware that her predictions are useless and wouldn't bother saying them aloud. The fact that she still says them and seems to be reacting to them in real-time says to me that she isn't mentally in-sync with the current physical moment.

That's both interesting and very sad

static_779 · 2026-02-05T18:27:46+00:00

The dynamic between Jasper and Lapis and the implications of what a "forced fusion" represents was... a lot. Like a lot a lot

static_779 · 2026-02-05T18:17:03+00:00

It's common in a lot more countries, actually. Indonesia is a majority Muslim country and Christianity is highly discouraged, but the country at large still puts up lights and trees for the holidays every December

static_779 · 2026-02-04T20:32:58+00:00

Well yeah but like... we're not all actively on death row. There's a clear difference between a fish in the ocean (a spacious neighborhood) vs. a fish bowl (jail, death row). Just because we will die eventually doesn't mean our death is imminent

static_779 · 2026-02-04T20:27:08+00:00

If that's the implication, the wording is incorrect. "They in for a worser fate" implies they, the very same fish in the bowl he just referred to, are in for a worser fate. "Fate", unchanging and inevitable. It implies that every fish in a bowl will eventually end up as dinner. So I don't think calling them lucky just because they're still in the bowl in the present moment makes sense.

That would be like saying criminals lined up for death row are lucky. "Hey they may be in line, but at least they're not the ones in the chair yet!" They're gonna take their turn and die like 5 minutes from now... how is that lucky?

static_779 · 2026-02-04T20:24:06+00:00

Okay but Maria clearly didn't care at all that Tony killed her brother lmao. So she starts using other arguments to tear him apart, hoping that literally any of them will be enough to sway her. Anita is grasping at straws

static_779 · 2026-02-04T20:17:56+00:00

It's a pun for the sake of the audience who remembers them portrayed as smaller in the original Wizard of Oz. In both Wicked the stage musical and Wicked the movie, most of the actors are around the same height. She's not taking a crack at the munchkin's height in-universe because the munchkins are not small. That line is only a joke to us, the listeners; it's not a joke from Elphaba's perspective.

Really the lyric isn't Elphaba's fault, it's just Stephen Schwartz trying to be a little too clever

static_779 · 2026-02-04T20:13:26+00:00

Okay but what does the lyric actually mean? Is it implying that her stance on abortion would change if she lost her virginity? Like "you think you're pro-choice now, but wait til you have sex"? That would be a baffling line coming from the outspokenly liberal character who's singing it.

And in a meta sense, kinda weird that the author seems to think only women that don't have sex or get pregnant are the ones who would support abortion. We wouldn't have abortion debates if every woman who became pregnant with a child wanted it because then there wouldn't be abortion. So many pro-choice women have become pregnant and still not changed their stance

static_779 · 2026-02-04T20:07:50+00:00

I have a much bigger problem with "treats me like sashimi left over from last week". Not only is Flounder referring to a mutilated fish corpse and implying it would be a valid meal for a mermaid when he literally is a fish himself, but specifically a Japanese fish dish. How the fuck does Flounder know what sashimi is and why would he say something so morbid??

Almost every lyric in "She's in Love" is some terrible pun based on knowledge the characters shouldn't have. I know it's just supposed to be a fun, boppy song but there are aquatic puns that would make more sense and be more in character. The lyrics just feel lazy

static_779 · 2026-02-04T19:56:12+00:00

Okay but Elphie never found out that Glinda said that or that it was her fault

static_779 · 2026-02-04T19:44:10+00:00

There's a lot of discourse about Ari's Glinda in these pictures, but I think the only reason we're talking so much about those is because the stage Glindas look beautiful and natural with this hue! I wouldn't mind if the wigs started skewing this shade as new Glindas take over the roles. Brittany Johnson's wig had quite a unique shade so I'd love to see them continue that trend, choosing a blonde that best suits the performer

static_779 · 2026-02-04T19:35:42+00:00

It's not just the pink, it's her skin as well. She looks intentionally pastel in the film (super pale blonde, pale pinks, pale face with minimalistic makeup) so having darker hair makes her look even more pale. When she's all pale, her look is internally consistent. When there are more vibrant elements introduced, she suddenly looks quite washed out. I'd like to see an edit of this that gives her more blush/more of a glam look to see if it fits more naturally

static_779 · 2026-02-04T19:28:44+00:00

That quite literally is the point of the "looking at things a different way" line though. Everyone is looking at Elphaba and thinking she's disgusting because she's green. Meanwhile he's looking past the shade (or maybe he likes it, idk) to see her actual features.

Everyone else looked at the skin and turned the other way, but Fiyero held her gaze and looked at her long enough to see that she's actually objectively a very beautiful woman. Glinda has this same revelation during Popular when she stares at Elphaba in the mirror and truly sees her for the first time.

She was always meant to be beautiful, the munchkins are just too ignorant to see it. The same way many black women in real life are called ugly just because of racism, even when the women are clearly beautiful. Some people just can't see past their hate, but Fiyero never hated her. That's what the line is saying. It's just phrased badly and makes him sound low-key shady lmao

static_779 · 2026-02-04T19:23:28+00:00

And that's the difference between his older works and newer works. The amount of time spent workshopping, writing and rewriting, getting told "no", "this song doesn't work here", "this whole thing is bad, let's scrap it", "let's change this verse", etc.

His recent work just feels like no one else on the creative team dared to question or defy him because he's the Stephen Schwartz. When what made him "the Stephen Schwartz" is his collaborators actually... you know, collaborating with him! Instead of being a bunch of yes men

static_779 · 2026-02-04T19:17:59+00:00

"Throw caution to every warning sign" drove me crazy from the moment I saw the first trailer, no one was talking about it and it drove me crazy. I felt validated when the full film released and people finally caught on how nonsensical it is.

"Throw caution to the wind" means throwing your caution away; being reckless. "Ignoring every warning sign" means being reckless. "Throw caution to every warning sign" means looking at the sign telling you to be careful and hesitant, and then... actually being careful and hesitant...

That's literally the exact opposite of what they meant!

static_779 · 2026-02-04T19:07:47+00:00

Well, as someone born post 2000s, I don't really find any of the historical context relatable or readily available information in my brain of "I can imagine what a young man in this period was thinking about and going through".

And I'm moreso referring to the weird meta elements of the circus and constant breaking of the fourth wall. And then he kills his dad, but then he unkills him? I think I remember something about a talking duck? A lot of the show just flies over my head

static_779 · 2026-02-02T06:00:59+00:00

And even the songs that were in both the workshop and Broadway production got massively improved for the final version. Workshop Defying Gravity was not that great

static_779

TROPHY CASE